COAL HILL - Johnson County Westside could be the envy of many other football teams who aren't facing the Rebels' situation. J.C. Westside is coming off its first playoff victory in school history and now will host the second round of playoffs against Augusta at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

"Just like we preached to them from Day 1, work hard and you'll be rewarded - You'll reap what you sow. No matter what happens Friday we've had a great year," head coach James Housdan said.

The Rebels have a few things to smile about, no matter what happens Friday night. They are confident and can control their own destiny by hosting a second-round playoff game at home. Housdan said hosting Friday's game will be a huge factor.

"Our guys have done well at home this year. This is the first time we've had a winning record at home. We usually play better on the road and the roles reversed this year, so the guys are real comfortable and confident at home, like anybody would be," Housdan said. "Just the fact we don't have to get on that bus and take that long ride to Augusta, that puts a little pep in your step too."

Housdan said his message to his players has been to go out, play hard and have fun. He said he is proud of his team for not giving up this season and felt they've overcome adversity.

"We had a tough non-conference schedule, the same as last year, and we didn't fair very well, but the kids didn't put their heads down and say 'here we go again.' They played hard, got better each and every game, even though the score didn't reflect it. Every game we did things better," Housdan said. "We had our backs against the wall and had to win three games just to get in the playoffs, and we did that. I'm glad we were able to overcome adversity and stuck together as a team."

The team will face a Red Devil team who likes to make the big plays, Housdan said.

"The thing that concerns me about Augusta is the big plays. They've got some size and some speed. They like to play smash-mouth and we can't give up the big plays. They don't spread it out like Dermott does, they like to run that power-I and dead-T. They'll pound it and break a big play. We've just got to contain that. If they're going to score, make them deserve it, and we can't give up easy scores and get ourselves down in a big deficit."

The Rebels have been able to hold their own, scoring 40 points in six of its last seven ball games. Housdan said ball and clock control could be the key as he hopes to take advantage of every scoring opportunity.

"Offensively, we hope to accomplish what we've been able to do the last six ball games," Housdan said. "We need to minimize the penalties, turnovers - and move the ball. We have to keep the chains moving. If we get a big score, we'll take that. As long as we're moving the chain, putting the ball in the end zone and taking care of the football. That's been our goal all year and that's what we're going to keep going for."

Housdan said the last two practices have been great and focused. He said he feels his team has the fundamentals down, but wants to add that extra incentive that could give his team an edge. He said he hopes defensively they can contain Augusta and make big plays themselves.

"This time of the year, you're just trying to fine-tune some things that you think might work against your opponent and try to find some weaknesses in their defense and special teams," Housdan said. "You want to find something that may put wrinkles in our gameplan and to work in our favor against them. In the playoffs, it's one game at a time. You may want to throw some things at them that they haven't seen, like gadget or special plays, so that's what were doing this week. We feel like our base stuff is done and everyone knows what we're doing and now we're adding some wrinkles to the gameplan."

This season has been better than other seasons for the Rebels, who've had seasons where they barely had enough players. This year has been a season of firsts, and the Rebels want to keep it that way as they try to build each year, Housdan said. He said he wants the team to continue to be hungry and strive for more.

"Each and every year is different in high school. It's hard to say where our program is at and if we're going to be able to sustain this or not. From the time we got here five years ago, the numbers have increased, we've got 39 kids and 13 freshmen dressed out last four ball games. We're winning - we're in the playoffs for the second year in a row. We won our first playoff game and now we're hosting the second one, so a lot great things are happening," he said. "We feel like we've got this program built up and now the goal next year is to keep it going. We want to maintain that level of success and just get better every year."